As the US government pours billions into bailing out or nationalising various pillars of the US financial establishment, investors have suddenly rediscovered gold’s traditional role as a haven in times of trouble. After a prolonged period of weakness had brought its price down from around $900 an ounce to below $780, the spectacle of Wall Street stars such as Lehman Brothers going down, Merrill Lynch being ushered into the embrace of Bank of America and mighty insurer AIG having to receive emergency funding helped send the price soaring to more than $860.

It has been a different story with oil, where the price has retreated from the regions of $150 a barrel to below $100 and is seen as potentially easing further. With a world recession gathering pace, the fundamental laws of supply and demand have upset the speculative applecart, though the impact of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike on US inventories in the Gulf of Mexico could provide a temporary fillip.